Vincent Willem van Gogh was the oldest of six children of Theodorus and Anna van Gogh. He was born one year after his parents suffered the loss of stillborn, Vincent Willem, who would have been Vincent’s older brother but instead became his namesake. He had five siblings, two brothers and three sisters: Theodorus, Cornelius, Anna, Elisabeth and Willemina. Vincent did not have many close friends throughout his life, but the members of the Van Gogh family were closely involved in each other’s lives. They kept in contact and offered each other encouragement, advice and help. Anna Cornelia (1855-1930), the second born child following Vincent. She went away to boarding school …..

On April 18, 1889, Theo van Gogh married Johanna Gezina Bonger in the Amsterdam town hall and just a few short months later on July 5, 1889, Jo Van Gogh wrote to Vincent saying, “I am now going to tell you a great piece of news, on which we have concentrated a good deal of our attention lately – it is that next winter, toward February probably, we hope to have a baby, a pretty little boy – whom we are going to call Vincent, if you will consent to be his godfather. Of course I know we must not count on it too much, and that it may well …..

There is evidence that Theo van Gogh was attracted to Johanna from as early as 1886, but the two didn’t marry until 1889. Jo Bonger was the sister of Theo’s friend Andre Bonger. In April of 1887, Theo wrote to his sister Lies about his feelings concerning Jo. “I am planning at one time or another to ask for Jo Bonger’s hand. I surely don’t know her enough to be able to tell you much about her. As you know, I have only seen her a few times, but the things I know about her appeal to me…. I think I could talk with her about anything and I believe …..